Your Baby's Cord Blood: A Treasure to Bank on

Friday, February 03, 2012

Hey moms, did you know that many diseases including certain type of cancers and blood disorders may be treated using stems cells found in your baby's cord blood? Your baby's precious cord blood has lifesaving benefits for him or any of your family members in the future. Thus, choosing a once in a lifetime chance of collecting and storing his cord blood is indeed a treasure to bank on.

In an event hosted by Cordlife Philippines, I learned a lot about cord blood banking through their Medical Director Dr. Arvin Faundo. Aside from that, two celebrity moms shared their remarkable experiences on cord blood banking.

Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood banking involves the process of storing stem cells - agent responsible for replenishing the blood and immune system - collected from the umbilical cord immediately after birth. The stem cells have the ability to develop into new and healthy red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. There are two options on how and where to store the baby cord blood - either private or public. Private cord blood banking is storing the baby's cord blood for his or her own future use or use by a family member should the need arise. On the other hand, public cord blood banking involves donating a baby's cord blood for potential use by any patient in need. When a family donate's their child's cord blood, they are relinquishing all their rights to own these cells. At present, private cord blood banking is now available here in the Philippines. However, clients may also opt store their babies' cord in Cordlife storage facility in Singapore.

How is cord blood banking done? Cord blood is collected after the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been clamped and cut out. Once it has been collected, the cord blood is transported to a cord blood processing and cryopreservation facility for specialized handling. Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero temperatures, (typically) 77 K or −196 °C (the boiling point of liquid nitrogen). Stem cells will be extracted from the cord blood using the world's first and only fully automated cord blood processing system called Sepax ® followed by a step to gradually freeze down the stem cells before they are finally stored in a liquid nitrogen tank at 196°C permanently. Research show that cord blood stem cells can be stored indefinitely as long as they are continuously stored in liquid nitrogen.

Dr. Faundo said that the collection process is painless, easy and safe for both the mother and the baby. Stem cells have been proven to successfully cure diseases including cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma; blood disorders such as thalassaemia; and, immune deficiencies and metabolic disorders. Researches say stem cells from cord blood may be used to treat diseases of the family members since the chance of locating cord blood match within the family is 60 percent higher that a bone marrow transplant, includes fewer complications, and has improved medical outcomes.

Cord blood banking is available at Cordlife, the Philippines' first world class cord blood processing and storage facility which is located at the UP-Ayaland Technohub, Diliman, Quezon City. Meanwhile, stem cell transplants are performed in the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), St. Luke's Medical Center, Asian Hospital, and The Medical Center. These hospitals have the necessary facilities and expertise of medical practitioners to perform cord blood banking transplants.

Cordlife Medical Philippines

In February 2010, CordLife Medical Philippines, Inc. officially opened the country’s first and only cord blood processing and storage facility located in Metro Manila, to better serve the cord blood banking needs of the Philippine market. The world-class facility is registered with the Department of Health and is built in accordance with global gold standards such as the American Association of Blood Banks and ISO. The facility operates 365 days a year and offers the world’s only fully automated cord blood processing system, SEPAX, with a storage capacity for more than 20,000 cord blood units. CordLife Medical Philippines Inc. is a subsidiary of CordLife Limited, a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Some Words from Cordlife Moms

Olympian and entrepreneur Akiko Thomson-Guevara graced the event together with her husband and their 14 month old son Noah - the "cord blood banker". Akiko said that banking their son's cord blood was a no-brainer for her and her husband. As new parents, they want to give Noah with the best options and to start preparing for his future. Cord blood banking does both for them. Having that option gives them some sense of security and peace. Akiko said that they chose Cordlife because of its service and the fact that they already have a banking facility is located here in the Philippines.

According to TV Host and Magazine Lexi Schulze Berenguer-Testa, cord blood banking was a completely new concept to her when she had her first child but already read about it when her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer the year before her pregnancy. Then while pregnant with her second child, she worked with Cordlife for a publication. That was the time that she learned everything about cord blood banking. She entrusted her second daughter Bruna's cord blood to Cordlife with the hope of saving a family member's life in the future.

Payment Plans and Promos

If are an expectant parent and intend to store your baby's cord blood in Cordlife's storage facility here in the Philippines, the upfront enrollment and processing fee amounting to Php48,000 + VAT. Annual fee is valued at Php8,000.

The type of stem cells that are recovered at birth from the umbilical cord and the placenta, called cord blood stem cells, are classified as hematopoietic stem cells. They are considered to be adult stem cells and are similar to those found in adult bone marrow. Hematopoietic stem cells can become any of the blood cells and cellular blood components in our body (such as white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, etc.), but not organs (such as lungs, interior stomach lining, nervous system tissue, nerve cells from the brain, etc.). Only pluripotent stem cells have the ability to become any of the more than 220 cell types in the adult body. Banking of stem cells from cord blood is not controversial. Transplants of stem cells from cord blood represent an effective therapy for certain blood borne and genetic diseases, and have been used to treat nearly 80 serious diseases.

The usefulness of stem cells from cord blood has some limitations. First, there are simply not enough stem cells in cord blood to treat any patient who weighs more than approximately 65 pounds, generally limiting its use to children. (The smaller amount of stem cells also means that there may not be enough stem cells to give multiple treatments to a child.) Second, stem cells from cord blood – hematopoietic stem cells – are not pluripotent, which means that the potential for them to offer regenerative therapies in areas outside of blood related and certain genetic diseases in the future are somewhat limitedhttp://cordadvantage.com

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